WITH the United States announcing changes to policies impacting international students, immigration attorney Nadine Atkinson-Flowers is urging Jamaicans bound for American universities to prioritise documentation and formal communication of all matters regarding their ability to study abroad.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a suspension of student visa processing last month as President Donald Trump’s Administration ramped up vetting of their social media. The Administration also sought to ban visas for all foreign students who want to attend Harvard and force current students to transfer. The order was temporarily blocked by a judge.
A proclamation issued by the White House two Wednesdays ago declared that the entrance of international students to begin a course at Harvard would be “suspended and limited” for six months and that existing overseas enrollees could have their visas terminated.
In response to the changes, Atkinson-Flowers said Jamaicans who have been recently accepted to US institutions should have established contact with the international student office and with an advisor.
“They must keep in touch with these persons, not simply a phone call but by formal communication — by email or letter — so that they have proof of such interactions and clarity on any next steps that will affect what they do. They should ensure that they are receiving information as it relates to their specific situations,” said the immigration attorney.
“When these students do arrive in the US or any other country they should also register with the Jamaican Consulate — which does not provide legal advice but which can direct them to rosters of lawyers, general resources about passports,” she told the Jamaica Observer.
The immigration attorney said that the current changes by the Trump Administration are the most she has seen, adding that policies regarding international students have not changed much over the years.
“As it relates to the recent announcement [regarding social media screening], it is new for international students to be singled out. However, for a few years now, persons seeking any type of visa to the US have been asked to disclose their social media information over the previous five years.
“While there was no announcement prior to this, as it relates to social media it has been happening for a few years, therefore students seeking student visas would have already had to indicate this if they applied, say over the last five to 10 years. The major difference is that now the US Government has made an announcement about it and indicated that they are vetting this group,” she explained.
Atkinson-Flowers urged students to be careful with what they post online.
“Social media posts do not go away, even if deleted. One should always remember that the Internet has value but can also lead to problems if not used judiciously. Employers and potential employers, scholarship donors, and many other persons have been screening social media content of persons they may be thinking of employing or offering scholarships to, for many years, and using that to help make decisions. So this is perhaps another wake-up call for students,” she said.
As it relates to the Administration’s seeming stand-off with Harvard, Atkinson-Flowers said if the court rules in favour of the Government, students will have to enrol elsewhere or return home.
“I have seen in the media that some schools are considering to let students do their courses remotely if they become affected. If the Government wins the case this will cause a lot of logistics problems, to say the least, because schools have cut-off dates for transfers, and not every course is commensurate at every institution. Students must keep in touch with their universities — and specifically with their advisors — and their international student office,” she stressed.